Targa roof systems form an intermediate solution between sun roofs and full convertibles. In sun roofs, merely a part of the roof is movable into another part, so that an opening results within the roof over the passenger compartment. In convertibles, the entire roof area, including the rear window, is openable from the upper side of the windshield frame towards the rear. In a Targa roof, a roof part is removable, which roof part is disposed between the upper side of a windshield and/or the windshield frame and a traverse cross beam that spans across the vehicle inner compartment and is spaced from the windshield and/or windshield frame, wherein this roof part is, generally speaking, relatively flat, so that it is stowable under the rear trunk lid or in the vehicle inner compartment, e.g., behind the driver/passenger seat.
A vehicle roof is known from DE 100 32 378 C2 that concerns the functionality of a convertible roof, in which a forward roof part and a rear roof part, which includes a rear window, are movably borne on the vehicle body and are storable in a storage compartment behind the driver/passenger seat. The forward roof part is borne by means of a pivot beating device that is slidably borne on a guide device that is affixed to the vehicle body; the pivot bearing device moves along the guide device when opening and storing the forward roof part, whereby the forward roof part lowers into the roof storage compartment. The pivot bearing device is constructed as a multi-hinge mechanism that is, as a whole, slidably borne on the guide device. A peculiarity of the known vehicle roof is its relatively complicated design. Furthermore, the roof part must be carefully guided by hand during its lowering, because it is pivotable relative to the vehicle body-affixed guide device due to the multi-hinge mechanism and thus can be scratched when it is not carefully handled.
A Targa roof system is described in DE 101 26 974 C1, in which a roof part is movable from a closed position covering the vehicle inner compartment into a storage position, wherein the movement is guided by a sliding device. The sliding device comprises a forward guide rail and a rear guide rail on each side of the vehicle; the roof part is slidably and pivotably borne on the sliding device and is movable into the roof storage compartment. The roof part is pivotably borne on the rear guide rails by means of a rotary-slide bearing and on the forward guide rails by means of respective intermediate hinge devices, which are borne on the forward guide rail and are connected with the roof part at a forward rotary-hinge.